Eden Hazard's controversial goal for Chelsea against Cardiff City was fair, claims Cech

Goal in which Samuel Eto'o took ball from Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall
and set up Eden Hazard was right to stand, says Chelsea's Petr Cech

Chelsea 4 Cardiff City 1 - Samuel Eto'o caused controversy by pinching the ball when David Marshall bounced it, then setting up Eden Hazard to score Chelsea's equaliser after Jordan Mutch had opened the scoring for the away teamPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech believes it was right that Eden Hazard's controversial equalising goal stood in Saturday's Barclays Premier League defeat of Cardiff. As Bluebirds goalkeeper David Marshall bounced the ball, Samuel Eto'o nicked it, leading to Hazard netting in the 4-1 win.

The laws of the game stipulate that when a goalkeeper bounces a ball it is within his control and the strike should not have stood. But, far from siding with his fellow stopper Marshall in a goalkeeping union, Cech accepted referee Anthony Taylor's assessment of the situation, an interpretation which infuriated Cardiff.

"It's always a difficult question, when you lose control or not lose control," Cech said. "What I know is that if you throw the ball to kick it out, nobody can touch you because it counts as one motion.

"In terms of bouncing it's not one motion, so it's totally up to the referee to decide whether the goalkeeper had control of the ball or not. The referee had the perfect view of it, he was very close and he decided to give it.

"In this case you have to go with the referee. It's an unusual situation, but as long as the referee is happy with it, the goal is in. As a goalkeeper you make sure when you have control of the ball, you look around and make sure nobody can touch it.